Begin your own tradition

Watch fanatics will instantly recognize this slogan. Perhaps, even their significant others will do too. Patek Philippe, considered to be the best watch brand, uses this slogan since 1996. Besides this campaign, Patek Philippe also has separate one for women which started in 1999 for their “24” collection and was refined in 2006.

As more than ten years after it was first presented, the ?¢Ç¨?ìGenerations?¢Ç¨¬ù campaign enjoys continued and unprecedented success. Only a few theme campaigns of such longevity exist. According to Tim Delaney, the Chairman of Leagas Delaney and the creative mind behind the campaign, this timelessness originates primarily from its central message: ?¢Ç¨?ìPatek Philippe expresses a universal truth, an emotional realm that is valid for every father and every son in every culture….”

Personally, I love the campaign and everytime I see it I wished my father has a Patek he could pass on 🙂 Well, he has not, which means I have to save up for one myself to pass on to the next generation. No problem, because I already know which Patek Philippe model will be passed on to the next generation (if I can make it to save up for one). Last weekend I was able to handle a Patek Philippe Nautilus (ref.5711/1A), which has a waiting list even more absurd than for the stainless steel Rolex Daytona. Designed by Gerald Genta, who also is responsible for the IWC Ingenieur, Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, Omega’s Constellation and Seamaster, the Nautilus was introduced by Patek Philippe in 1976. Based on either Disney’s Nautilus or the US Submariner called ‘Nautilus‘, Patek remains silent about the origin of the Nautilus name.

To me, the ref.5711/1A is the ultimate luxury sportswatch. If you handle this watch, you will instantly notice that this is a whole other level than the Rolexes, Omegas and IWCs in this world. The watch silently screams craftmenship in the best way you will be able to get. At a list price of over 15.000 Euro, no discount possible, it is probably also one of the few watches that nobody will get unless you are a real watch addict/admirer. There is no gold, no complication and no other sign to show off your wealth. Holding a watch like this, staring at it, admiring its movement and fine crafted bracelet, case and dial… my brain starts to calculate immediately what kind of funds needs to be raised. How long will it take? Do I need to do some selling or trading?

No I don’t. My current modest collection has been built over a period of almost a decade. If I sell or trade anything, I will certainly regret it. There is no other option than to save and to restrain from buying other fine watches when I am half way…

Every time I see that ad I remember a story I was told,perhaps 20 years ago, by a customer who noticed a Patek Philippe on display in my booth at a local antique show. He was an older gentleman, long since retired, who after graduating university had taken a trans-Atlantic voyage to Europe with a group of friends. On the first night of the trip the students were gathered on the deck enjoying a couple of beers, one of them stood up and in a loud voice declared ‘we have the whole summer ahead of us, no classes to attend and no need to know what time of day it is’ and on that he un-strapped his wristwatch and threw it overboard, several of the other students then removed their watches and threw them overboard also. I had no idea what I had done, said the gentleman, until several years later my father asked me “why don’t you ever wear the Patek Philippe I gave you when you graduated?”

Great article thanks. I was just writing yesterday on brands, and how “Web 2.0” has actually increased the power of good brands, ones that are true to what they say (I was replying to a post on another site that said brands are dead today).

Patek Phillipe is one of the best examples I can think of, they’ve developed an amazing following to the message they defined in their “generations” campaign. A friend of mine just purchased his first Patek, and to him it’s the pinnacle of all watches. And yes, he quoted the generations campaign when talking about them.

Personally I collect vintage Seikos. Certainly a very different space in the watch market 🙂 but also another great brand, you really know what they stand for.

As always thanks for the great articles, I’ll be quoting you as an example on this one!

One small nit to pick: Gerald Genta was hardly responsible for the Ingenieur, even assuming that you’re only referring to its aesthetics, given that the iconic model was introduced in 1955, a full twenty years before Genta was hired by IWC.

I was indeed referring to the IWC Ingenieur as we know it today, with the integrated bracelet. I am aware that the Ingenieur has been around for a longer time, but since these early models do not even come close to the aesthetics of the later models, the Nautilus and Royal Oak Jumbo, I didn’t even bother to give the full Ingenieur introduction 😉 Thanks for your comment to have this cleared though!